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tanya
12-12-2006, 06:14 AM
:cold:

Rescue teams defeated by blizzard conditions planned another attempt Tuesday to find three men missing after an off-season attempt on the summit of Mount Hood.

The climbers, two Texans and a New Yorker who set out Wednesday, appeared to have tried a "light and fast" climb, said Steve Rollins, a search leader with Portland Mountain Rescue.

The strategy can help climbers lessen their risk by reducing the time they spend on the mountain, Rollins said, but "if something goes wrong, you don't have a lot of gear to fall back on."

Most climbers take on Mount Hood in May and June, and a climb this time of year is unusual, he said.

Rescue teams turned back short of the 11,239-foot summit on Monday. They came off the mountain with descriptions of high winds, heavy snow, ice, the threat of avalanches and so little visibility they couldn't see their feet at times.

"We're dealing with gusts of 85 miles an hour that were knocking us back," said Tom Scully of the Hood River mountain rescue unit.

The three had not been heard from since Sunday, when one called from a snow cave just below the summit.

They are Kelly James, 48, who called from the snow cave, and Brian Hall, 37, both of Dallas, Texas; and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, 36, of Brooklyn, N.Y.

The three were described as experienced climbers who had bought gear from an REI outdoor store.

The National Weather Service forecast 6 to 12 inches of snow overnight and Tuesday morning in the Cascade Range, which includes Mount Hood.

Rollins said he hoped that all three took refuge in a snow cave.

"A snow cave can provide excellent shelter from wind and precipitation," he said. "If you're well prepared in a snow cave, you can last a really long time."

But climbers can get wet inside snow caves, increasing the risk of hypothermia, he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,235997,00.html

Scott P
12-16-2006, 08:57 PM
Still not found. Conditions and weather are said to be horrible. I hope they are alright but this sounds grim.

I have climbed a few easy mountains in winter, mostly on fairly gentle terrain in bad weather, but I wonder why they tried the North Face of Hood with a bad weather forecast. Man, that looks like a tough route in winter and in bad weather. Here's a good weather photo:

http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/83659.jpg

Sombeech
12-16-2006, 11:03 PM
That sucks. They were really optimistic for saturday conditions, too.

tanya
12-17-2006, 09:47 AM
Nothing yet :frustrated: :frustrated: :frustrated:

Iceaxe
12-17-2006, 05:32 PM
1 climber found dead on Mt. Hood
By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER, Associated Press Writer

HOOD RIVER, Ore. - Rescuers looking for three missing climbers on Mount Hood found a body Sunday in the area where one of the climbers made a distress call a week ago, authorities said.
The dead climber had not yet been identified, said Pete Hughes, a spokesman for the Hood River County Sheriff's Office. The victim was believed to be one of the three missing climbers, authorities said.

The body was found in a second snow cave near another snow cave where rescuers found a sleeping bag, ice axes and rope, officials said.

Rescuers would be coming off the mountain early Sunday evening and will review the information gathered today before making tomorrow's plans, said Capt. Mike Braibish, spokesman for the Oregon National Guard.

"We remain hopeful," Braibish said. "We are going to still collect information and pursue the rescue of the two other climbers."

A Chinook helicopter lifted the body from the 11,239-foot mountain and took it to Hood River, said Karl Tesch, another spokesman for the sheriff's office.

Near the first snow cave, helicopters had spotted rope that had been intentionally laid out in a Y-shape, which some rescuers said is commonly used by climbers to indicate their location. There was also an ice spike and footprints, said Sgt. Gerry Tiffany, spokesman for the Hood River County Sheriff's Office.

Searchers dug through the cave, about 300 feet below the summit, to ensure no one was there and took the equipment, which will be examined for clues.

Weather conditions have been harsh since the three were reporting missing eight days ago, with heavy snow fall and wind gusts of up to 100 mph. The snow stopped Saturday, but wind up to 50 mph blew the fresh snow, hampering visibility. Skies were blue Sunday, the wind was still, and temperatures at the summit were reported near zero degrees.

There has been no communication from Kelly James, 48, of Dallas, 37-year-old Brian Hall of Dallas, or 36-year-old Jerry "Nikko" Cooke of New York City since Dec. 10, when James used his cell phone to call his family. He told them he was sheltering in a snow cave while his companions started back down the mountain, apparently to get help for him.

The last clue to their whereabouts was a brief signal returned from James' cell phone Tuesday.

tanya
12-17-2006, 05:39 PM
Must be James that was found then. :(

Iceaxe
12-17-2006, 05:59 PM
Must be James that was found then. :(

Good guess.... sad....

Iceaxe
12-18-2006, 07:18 AM
Mt. Hood body identified as Kelly James

HOOD RIVER, Ore. - A missing climber found dead in a snow cave on Mount Hood was identified as a Dallas man who had placed a distress call to relatives a little more than a week ago, a person close to the family said Monday.

Searchers found the cave Sunday near the spot located by cell phone signals traced from Kelly James, who made a four-minute call to his family Dec. 10 just below the summit, said Jessica Nunez, a spokeswoman for the climber's family.

On Monday, a recovery team was expected to retrieve the body, which remained on the mountain over night because darkness made it too dangerous to retrieve. The search for two other climbers also was to resume on the treacherous north side of Oregon's highest mountain.

The discovery of James' body brought a sad conclusion to a long week of anxious optimism in the search for three men on the 11,239-foot mountain.

Family members had relied on intense religious faith along with confidence that the extensive mountaineering experience of the trio would save them from a week of blizzard storms and single-digit temperatures that kept search teams and helicopters at bay.

James, 48, had told his family that his climbing party was in trouble and that Brian Hall, 37, also of Dallas, and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, 36, of New York City, had headed back down, apparently for help. James may have been injured.

His body was found in a second snow cave near the first, about 300 feet below the summit. Rescuers found two ice axes, a sleeping bag or pad and rope in the first. It was not known if any gear was in the second cave.

James' mother, Lou Ann Cameron, told The Associated Press she did not want to talk about her son and referred questions to the Hood River County Sheriff's Office.

Monday's search would center on possible descent routes on Eliot Glacier and Cooper Spur, relatively lower levels of the mountain, in case the other two got down that far, said Pete Hughes of the sheriff's office, the lead agency in the search.

"Eliot Glacier is real dangerous so we will do that by air only," Hughes said Monday. "It's a bad avalanche area with crevasses. There are still people in crevasses that have never been recovered."

Near the first snow cave, helicopters had spotted rope that had been intentionally laid out in a Y-shape, which climbers often use to indicate their location. There also was an ice spike and footprints, apparently headed up the mountain, said Sgt. Gerry Tiffany, a spokesman for the Hood River County sheriff's office.

Searchers dug through the first cave to ensure no one was there and took the equipment, which will be examined for clues. The second cave with the climber's body was found a short time later.

It was not immediately clear which cave was occupied first, or why or when the climber, or climbers, decided to move from it.

Weather conditions have been harsh since the three were reporting missing, with heavy snow and wind gusts of up to 100 mph. The snow stopped Saturday, but wind of up to 50 mph blew the fresh snow, hampering visibility.

Sombeech
12-18-2006, 08:18 AM
That's too bad. For some reason, I was expecting all 3 to make it off of the mountain alive. They really had high hopes for finding them all on Saturday.

Reedus
01-31-2007, 06:07 AM
Hmmm... I think they're dead.

Sombeech
01-31-2007, 11:21 AM
Yeah, this has kind of faded from the media.